SAN JOSE — Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini can’t escape the fact that they’ll face adversity during their rookie seasons in the NHL. But the San Jose Sharks, trying to be proactive, feel they have a plan to hopefully minimize some of that hardship.
Citing statistics that suggest teenagers stand a greater chance of getting injured in the NHL than older players, the Sharks will give Smith and Celebrini — once he’s fully healthy — scheduled games off throughout the first half of the season.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier wouldn’t reveal if there will be a pattern to the built-in games off for both players, such as scratching them on the first or second half of a back-to-back or missing a game when the team plays three times in four nights.
But the Sharks feel absences will be enough to help Celebrini, 18, and Smith, 19, make the adjustment to an 82-game NHL season after playing half as many games at the NCAA level last year. On the days when they’re not playing, they’ll be in the gym trying to improve their strength and conditioning, or on the ice doing skill development drills.
While Celebrini is out with a hip injury, Smith has already sat out a game. He was scratched, as planned, from Friday’s game in Winnipeg a night after he played 19 minutes against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“It’s all part of player development,” Grier said. “The league’s a little different now. You have to continue to develop your players while they’re in the NHL, where, in the past, that probably wasn’t the case quite as much.
“It’s what we think is best for them to keep growing as players and as individuals.”
Right now, the Sharks are giving Celebrini the time he needs to overcome a hip injury that occurred during training camp and has since been exacerbated at least a couple of times.
Grier said Celebrini first felt the hip issue during a Sept. 24 practice, which he felt midway through. Celebrini returned to practice the next day but was injured in an Oct. 1 preseason game against Utah when he crashed hip-first into the end boards. He also didn’t feel well after his NHL debut on Oct. 10.
Celebrini, the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Sharks in June, hasn’t played since and will be out for a while longer, with Grier saying the team will provide another update on his health in two weeks. The Sharks are 0-4-2 going into Tuesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks and have scored just eight goals in five games without Celebrini.
Still, even when Celebrini returns to the lineup, he’ll be on a schedule with planned scratches.
Grier said both players’ camps have been involved, including Macklin’s dad, Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ vice president of player health and performance.
“It’s been a nice, collaborative effort with both players camps and both players,” Grier said. “It’s a part of us trying to do what’s right by them, keep them healthy as much as we can, keep them fresh, help with the fatigue and the travel and everything.”
While load management remains a rather foreign concept in the NHL, it’s a practice that has become more common in the NBA.
Mike Potenza spent 16 years working in the Sharks organization as the strength and conditioning coach before joining the Warriors in 2022 as their director of performance. After being around the NBA and that league’s travel schedule, especially for a West Coast team, Potenza brought that knowledge back to San Jose as Grier and the Sharks hired him in June as their director of high performance.
“They definitely took into account some times when those guys needed rest as well,” Grier said. “I think (Potenza) has been really, really helpful and a valuable resource for us.”
Philadelphia Flyers forward Jett Luchanko is the only other player taken in this year’s draft to play an NHL game. He was scratched from the second game of a back-to-back when the Flyers opened the season on the road with games in Vancouver and Calgary.
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Last season, the three players taken ahead of Smith in the 2023 NHL Draft all missed time in their rookie seasons. Connor Bedard missed 14 games with a broken jaw, Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson was given built-in days off, much like Smith and Celebrini, and Adam Fantilli played in Columbus’ first 49 games before he suffered a calf laceration in a game in late January.
The Sharks hope that Celebrini and Smith can play every game in the second half of the season once they gain some more NHL experience.
Going into Tuesday, Smith had not scored a point in five NHL games, but Grier and coach Ryan Warsofsky feel that the former Boston College star has made strides on the defensive side of the puck. Grier added Smith, even if he continues to have offensive production issues, will not be assigned to the Sharks’ top minor league affiliate, the Barracuda.
“I think he’s been fine. It’s a tough league,” Grier said of Smith. “We knew there was going to be ups and downs. I think he’s had some good games and I think he’s had games where he struggled a little bit.”
